I haven't followed things like ownership of the series closely, so I'm not sure what the references to WB are that other posters have referred to. The only connection I recall is that the WB network was producing the pilot for the series that never came to be, as happens with many TV and film projects.
I'm not informed with insider information, but I feel skeptical that a corporate entity like "WB" would really have an interest or concern with promoting the original ABC series from the '60s and '70s. But if I'm wrong, and they really do have this humanistic interest at heart, I'm still skeptical that delaying release of the HODS and NODS on DVD for a 2010 (or whatever) movie is going to either 1) bring about a major resurgeance of interest in the TV series, or, 2) be a marketing coup for selling the 1970s movies.
Personally, I didn't think the movies were great, but they do have a connection with the original series with the cast and general storylines (plus great locations!), so I would buy them up in a snap.
Hi Philippe,
WB owns both the DS movies. Every MGM-produced film prior to 1986 is owned by them. The WB has no control whatsoever on the TV series or its reruns.
On the feature film DVD releases, no one at the Fest has any control over when the WB decides to release them.
DVD sales across the board have plummeted, and the massive amount of titles out there makes store shelf space a premium commodity. People have to pay, especially smaller companies, a per copy amount to get chains like Best Buy to stock their titles on the shelves. While online sales sites are fine, it can be the equivalent of putting dvds in a carboard box on the floor, as far as visibility is concerned. The visibility of a title in-stores is of tremendous value. The impulse buy is king. If WB were to release the two films now or last year or the year before, you'd very likely have many chain stores that simply would not order it, or would order one, out of both lack of awareness of the titles, AND the amount of other, newer, hotter titles that they could spend their shelf space on.
A big Johnny Depp WB film brings with it a massive marketing budget, to create and make aware new audiences about what this new DS is. That marketing push creates an awareness of the property, which affects not just the new film but the property itself. You can be assured that the recent hit Star Trek reboot has had an electric effect on sales of the new movie and TV series box sets. The same thing for Dark Knight on Batman DVDs, the new Friday the 13th remake on the originals, as well. That expectation and marketing confidence enables the studio to budget more of a push for the films on DVD, allowing them to place ads, and enabling the sales people to push the title to the retailers, so they put them on shelves. All this visibility and saturation makes itself known to the consumer, quite clearly, who will read the Johnny Depp DS cover of Ent Weekly, and notice that there's a review of the two DS movies on DVD, newly released. It's for the 'Wow, I liked that new DS movie, and gosh jinkies, there's a couple older movies that inspired it... I'll check it out!" effect. The effect of a new movie re-energizes the old franchises.
It's been proven over and over to the studios that this works, which is why they're doing it. They're considering the 10 or 20X the numbers on possible sales if it's tied in to a feature, vs just dumping it out on the market. Plus the sales would surge again if a sequel film is made... It's all pretty understandable, if you think about it.
With the above in mind, look at it this way: if the movie goes poof and doesn't happen, then barely any effort will go into the DVD releases, and you'll be lucky to get trailers on them. While a movie release doesn't guarantee restoration of NODS, the chances are much greater that the necessary budget might be allocated. Without it, the restoration will never happen, and it will remain a pipe dream.
